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Browsing by Author "Lautala, Pasi"

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    Improving Safety At Highway-Rail Grade Crossings Using In-Vehicle Auditory Alerts
    Nadri, Chihab; Lautala, Pasi; Veinott, Elizabeth; Mamun, Tauseef Ibn; Dam, Abhraneil; Jeon, Myounghoon (ACM, 2023-09-18)
    Despite increased use of lights, gates, and other active warning devices, crashes still happen at Highway-Rail Grade Crossings (HRGCs). To improve safety at HRGCs, we designed an in-vehicle auditory alert (IVAA) and conducted a multi-site driving simulator study to evaluate the effect of the IVAA on driving behavior at HRGCs. The video shows results of the collaboration between Virginia Tech, Michigan Tech, and the Volpe National Transportation Center recruited a total of N = 72 younger drivers. Driver simulator testing showed that the IVAA improved driving behavior near HRGCs, improving gaze behavior at HRGCs. Drivers looked both ways at crossings more often when the IVAA was present. We expect to run additional tests to further improve the IVAA. Our study can contribute to research efforts targeting driving safety at HRGCs.
  • "Slow down. Rail crossing ahead. Look left and right at the crossing": In-vehicle auditory alerts improve driver behavior at rail crossings
    Nadri, Chihab; Kekal, Siddhant; Li, Yinjia; Li, Xuan; Lee, Seul Chan; Nelson, David; Lautala, Pasi; Jeon, Myounghoon (Elsevier, 2022-09-27)
    Even though the rail industry has made great strides in reducing accidents at crossings, train-vehicle collisions at Highway-Rail Grade Crossings (HRGCs) continue to be a major issue in the US and across the world. In this research, we conducted a driving simulator study (N = 35) to evaluate a hybrid in-vehicle auditory alert (IVAA), composed of both speech and non-speech components, that was selected after two rounds of subjective evaluation studies. Participants drove through a simulated scenario and reacted to HRGCs with and without the IVAA present and through different music conditions and crossing devices. Driver simulator testing results showed that the inclusion of the hybrid IVAA significantly improved driving behavior near HRGCs in terms of gaze behavior, braking reaction, and approach speed to the crossing. The driving simulator study also showed the effects of background music and warning device types on driving performance. The study contributes to the large-scale implementation of IVAAs at HRGCs, as well as the development of guidelines toward a more standardized approach for IVAAs at HRGCs.